Ryanair launching in-flight mobile service

On 14 of its 166 aircraft, trialling service across all routes

Ever fancied annoying your previously friendly neighbour on a flight by talking loudly into your mobile phone? Well, Ryanair plans to let you do exactly that when it launches a trial in-flight mobile service early next month.

Fourteen of Ryanair's 166 bargain-fare airplanes will carry "miniature mobile phone masts" so you can text or blether away in the air till your heart's content (or until the aforementioned previously friendly neighbour grabs the phone and tries to throttle you…).

Mini phone masts

The mini pico-cell powered phone masts will only be able to handle up to six calls at a time, but texting should not clog up the local in-flight network.

Don't get too carried away though, as O2 plans to charge between £1.65 and £1.99 a minute for making or receiving a call and 40p per SMS. Ryanair will take an unspecified slice of this revenue.

Roll-out across entire fleet

"We plan to roll the service out across the entire fleet in six months time," a Ryanair spokesperson told TechRadar earlier today.

Technology partner OnAir claims that the picocells used in Ryanair's in-flight mobile offering will not interfere with any of the plane's navigation equipment and has been deemed totally safe by the Aviation Safety Authority.